Failure to file timely reports needs penalty, Republicans say

Published 9:54 pm, Thursday, October 25, 2012

ALBANY — GOP Assemblyman Jim Tedisco and two other Capital Region lawmakers say they want a "three strikes and you're in jail" bill for those who fail to file timely reports on their campaign finances.

While most people equate the three strikes concept with violent felonies, Tedisco, along with fellow Republicans Steve McLaughlin and Tony Jordan, says lawmakers should be held accountable when their campaigns don't follow election law requiring the disclosure of donors and expenses on a regular basis.

"The public has a right to be able to follow the money in politics and know who is giving to whom and how campaign donations are being spent. Sunshine is truly the greatest disinfectant. That's why we need to strengthen the laws to allow for full disclosure and transparency and put teeth into the laws on the books," Tedisco said.

The proposal comes after the Times Union reported that disgraced former Bronx Democratic Sen. Pedro Espada, convicted of tax fraud and currently awaiting sentencing, owes about $30,000 in fines to the state Board of Elections for years worth of failing to file reports about the various campaign committees he set up during his political career.

Without the reports, which are supposed to be filed twice a year, it's impossible to know who is contributing to a politician or for what the contributions are being used.

With Espada facing years in federal prison for essentially looting a Bronx health care center he created, few expect that the fines will ever be paid.

Moreover, the treasurers of his various accounts, rather than Espada, are liable for the missed filings. Conceivably, the state could attach liens to the homes and other properties of the treasurers if the fines aren't paid, although there is scant history of that happening.

With that in mind, Tedisco, McLaughlin and Jordan want to change the law to make the candidates, rather than their treasurers, responsible for the filings. And they want repeat offenses, which are currently considered civil matters, to be considered criminal violations.

They propose to make failure to comply a misdemeanor — punishable by up to a year in jail — if candidates miss three chances at filing their reports.

"It sends the worst possible message to New Yorkers when candidates running for elected office cannot even abide by campaign finance rules," said McLaughlin.

There was no indication how far the legislation would get. All three lawmakers belong to the minority Republican conference in the Assembly, making it difficult for their bills to get passed.